As you can see, the entries were of similar high quality, so the scores were close. Nevertheless, I think the final results rate the comparative qualities of submitted games quite well.

To the 1st and 2nd place holders, please contact me via email (lachie13@yahoo.com) with your PayPal emails. I hope that won't be a problem for any of you two.

For the detailed scoring and my final thoughts continue reading.

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Invasion of the Mononites!

Invasion of the Mononites! is a small, retro-style platform/puzzle game, consisted of two levels where you need to kill aliens that stole the color from the world, in order to revive plants, platforms and people with color orbs collected from dead aliens. Cute, fun and short.

Game design (24/35): Invasion of the Mononites! treats the theme of the competition very well, perhaps on the same levels as Color Eater 3D. By killing aliens and collecting the color orbs the player can revive different things in the environment with different effects, like plants to reach higher platforms, crystals that power up lifts or people to wake them up. Sadly, this is not married with challenging gameplay, so we are left to guess how much ssjx's ideas can result in fun gameplay. The game is simply too easy for the color concept to express itself fully. Bonus points go to the elaborate story accompanied with a graphics intro.

Gameplay (7/15): The game engine could use a lot of work to feel less clunky and more enjoyable to play. Also, the lack of proper challenge value makes it all feel like a stroll in the park, interesting only until completed, which on the other hand is done quite fast.

Progression (3/6): The game comes with two, somewhat different levels, fun to play for the first time. Minus points go to the lack of more content and the fact the outro is unlocked after completing only one level.

Replay Value (3/6): Average, but the game does register your level score and time, so if you have someone to play it with, it makes sense trying to finish a level in least amount of time, which creates a completely new challenge in this almost challenge-less game otherwise.

Graphics (4/7): Good. I like ssjx's style. It's effective and compliments the classics. I do think the game could have looked much "richer" graphically, without compromising the retro style.

Personal likeness (3/6): I like ssjx's contributions to these competitions and appreciate his efforts. I only wish he made a bigger progress from the last competition and Adventure for Breakfast! I do see a lot of unrealized potential in both of those games. ssjx's retro style shows a lot of promise, as well as his nostalgic approach to stories, which are reminiscent of 80's SF comedies, like Back to The Future or Weird Science. I would so love seeing a bigger game by ssjx, some sort of puzzle/platformer with a more refined engine and same approach to story and graphics style. ssjx games are fun to play, but they still fail to leave a more lasting impact.

Community vote (6/9): I guess more people prefer simple and easy game than me, so Mononites won the second place in the community poll, with 4 votes total. Congrats!

A surprising entry by so far inactive FB game dev, FXG861. RACESII is an excellent ASCII score-driven racing game. The player drives an endless race with increasing difficulty and new tracks (seamlessly), with more points given to higher average speed, number of passed cars and similar. The engine is almost perfect and I congratulate FXG861 for the product he delivered.

Game design (22/35): I feel compelled to give RACESII in this category the lowest score simply because his entry deals with the theme only visually and gameplay-wise little or not at all. It does utilize a clever idea to represent the color progress by exchanging day and night. But this reflects on the gameplay very little by making the car slightly more difficult to drive during night as it is difficult to make out the surrounding in complete black and white mode. I should mention that in my opinion, RACESII is most original in exploiting the color theme visually.

Gameplay (11/15): I believe this is a hugely potential score-driven game that perhaps was left slightly unfinished for the competition deadline. I think few nitpicks need to be done to make it just right, like placing the player's car on the bottom of the screen (so the player can see and avoid cars behind him), as well as making the movement in horizontal direction normal during superboost. RACESII has a whole load of factors to keep it interesting for a longer period of time. Minimum speed you are allowed to drive with, fuel you need to pick up from time to time, higher scores for higher average speed, more cars overtaken and similar. With online scores RACESII has potential to become a killer community competition game. Fun gameplay, smooth engine, and though-out multi-layered scoring.

Progression (4/6): Good, but I didn't have time to properly test how well the difficulty increases with time. The game definitely has all elements necessary to deliver good feeling of progress.

Replay Value (5/6): The best of all entries with its challenging scores to beat and different tactics available for reaching them. With online scores option, it would be perfect.

Graphics (6/7): I think the way FXG861 handled ASCII characters to create a neat looking racing game is brilliant. Minus points go to the lack of variety and I think there is room for it (different backgrounds, dirt road, etc.)

Sound/music (5/7): Good sound effects, packed with several music tracks, including speech messages.

Personal likeness (4/6): I really like what FXG861 delivered with his entry and I do hope he will release an update. I'm sorry this game didn't end up on one of the winning places, but simply it was pit against games that ended treating the competition theme better and were pretty much equally fun to play.

Community vote (3/9): With 3 votes RACESII takes the 3rd place in the community vote.

Color Eater 3D is a very cool 3D Snakes game. The gameplay is consisted of collecting variously colored orbs in a 3D environment, with each color increasing one of snake's inherit abilities, like tongue lash or jumping, and of course the length of the snake. Also, as you eat orbs of different colors the world transforms from black and white to multicolor. The competition entry consists of 5 very varied levels. The goal in each level is to collect a preset number of orbs of different colors.

Game design (30/35): Gothon exploits the theme of the competition very well with his entry. The color theme is treated both graphically and gameplay-wise. Though being 3D, the game is visually quite clear in its starting black and white mode, and as you eat the colored orbs, the world transforms into multicolor mode seamlessly and quite effectively. All this is backed-up with a though-out story. Minus points go to some problems with visibility on certain places, which was hard to avoid with a 3D game and such color transformations, but are there to note. Also, as the designer himself admits, the aspect of snake's special abilities is not fully exploited with this competition version. Nevertheless, Gothon's game dabbles with the color theme of the competition on the most interesting and complex way of all the entries.

Gameplay (11/15): Very good and addictive gameplay. Gothon delivers a smooth, well-coded 3D engine and it's fun to explore its mechanics. The controls are very responsive and the collision appears to be glitch-free. The game comes with 5 very interestingly designed levels (for the most part), with curious and though-out layouts. I can complain on the placement of spawning points of new orbs, as well as on the uninspired design of level 2. Also, a certain repetitive thread runs through all levels and while it compliments some, it does the opposite with at least two.

Progression (5/6): Almost perfect, because each new level introduces something new in the gameplay in more than one aspect, but on the other hand, levels perhaps repeat too much of the content already adopted.

Replay Value (4/6): Good, but again, minus points go to the repetition present in the gameplay, as well as game mechanics that might get you kill on unexpected places despite the accumulated skill, diminishing your motivation to try again. Also, once the game is beaten, I don't see elements that are motivational for the player to try again (score-wise, unlocking secret content or something like that).

Graphics (5/7): Very good. For the very in-game graphics I could only wish for slightly more variety and maybe animated sky that gets painted as you collect the orbs, but these are nitpicks. My biggest complain goes to the design of the main menu and level intros-outros, which could have been handled differently. The lack of credits screen, animated/illustrated story are also reasons to mention for the lack of more points in this category.

Sound/music (4/7): The game comes with non-original PD/CC sound effects/music, and while the music track that is picked beautifully accompanies the game theme and gameplay, the sum of sound effects feels somewhat lacking.

Personal likeness (5/6): My favorite entry of all. For me, it contains that hardly describable, special quality, something that divides it from all other games and makes it (appear) unique. It also delivers an immersing, transcendental atmosphere, reminiscent of Archipelagos and similar games with non-human environment. Definitely something I enjoyed playing, looking forward getting back to and hopefully playing an enhanced (better) version the developer mentioned earlier quite soon.

Community vote (0/9): By getting 2 votes and taking the last place in the community vote, Color Eater 3D earns 0 points in this category.

Y.A.G.A.C. is an excellent platform game, pseudo-2D, with 2D sprites in a 3D playfield, but you are limited to movement in two dimensions. It's a story-less game, heavily gameplay based, where you play a ninja trapped in dungeons filled with traps and robots. As you collect colored balls hidden around the level, so the platforms of that color become solid and you can then reach new places inside the level. Very challenging, but somewhat monotonous game. Excellent and very smooth engine, the game's strongest point.

Game design (27/35): Same as Color Eater 3D, but maybe not so complex, YAGAC deals with the competition theme both graphically and gameplay-wise. As you collect colored balls so the level background becomes painted with a specific color and when you collect most of the balls the background (space nebulae) also becomes animated. Gameplay-wise, each collected colored ball solidifies platforms of that color (which are until then marked with dotted lines) so the player can reach new places inside the level. A very effective and interesting idea, but it's not developed much from this this basic concept, contrary to Color Eater 3D, thus a lower score in this category. Also, gameplay mechanics are not connected with any sort of story.

Gameplay (12/15): I'm split about the score in this category. I need to compliment on almost perfect platform engine, the best coded ever in FreeBASIC (IMO). But I also must express my dissatisfaction with monotonous and unforgiving gameplay. I'm aware that some people might consider such hard-core gameplay the game's strong and not weak point. Nevertheless, I do think that YAGAC should have been less challenging and demanding, because it does not offer enough variety in content to validate such extreme difficulty. Still, the smoothness of the engine and well designed levels provide a satisfactory addiction factor so most will keep returning to this game to a certain point.

Replay Value (3/6): How much the gameplay captures you, that much you will keep returning to this game. The developer says that the game provides an ending only if you finish the game without continues, so there is a reason to try to finish the game once more from the very start in one sitting.

Graphics (5/7): The game looks excellent and the presentation is also impeccable. It only features very little different content. All of it could fit probably in one 640*480 box. Still, it is all compiled quite well, looks neat, and does what it needs to do.

Personal likeness (4/6): As far as personal likeness goes, I liked YAGAC somewhat less that Color Eater 3D, but I appreciate more its presentation and excellent engine. It is, in my opinion, a better game, more compact and rounded, but less immersive and atmospheric.

Community vote (9/9): The community has spoken. 5 votes out of 14, and first place in the community poll.

Once more thanks to all participants and followers of the competition. All wonderful entries this year. I only wish we had more participants and maybe a surprise entry or two. Sadly, few potential ones didn't make it, like Lithium's Relativity.

I sincerely hope the developers will continue working on their entries until shaping them the way they originally imagined. I'm mostly here thinking about RACESII, Color Eater 3D and Lithium's so far unreleased reverse tower defense game.

I'll try to find time to code a webpage for this competition asap.

Until then, enjoy these games and their future installments.

See you next competition.

« Last Edit: February 12, 2012, 01:18:04 PM by Lachie Dazdarian »

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"Things like Basic and Free Basic provide much-needed therapy and a return to sanity and a correct appreciation of people. The arrogant folk really hate a word like 'Basic' - fine, and good riddance." ~ pragmatist

@Lachie : Thank you so much for devoting your time, effort and resources on this!

I really loved the other games. Congratulations to all developers! Thank you for creating this amazing games!

"RACESII" is probably the best looking text game I have ever seen.

I haven't seen or played "Invasion of the Mononites!" until YAGAC was almost finished, and then when I played, I was pleasantly suprised to discover we had very similar ideas. Very fun game. Improve the physics a little bit and it will be perfect.

"Color Eater 3D" : with a little more polish it will rock. May I suggest making the camera more free and dynamic, instead of fixed to the worm's head? I must admit there were times I thought it would surely win the competition.

Well, it feels really nice to finally get something back for all this years of game programming, so THANK YOU again!

I would appreciate any news and plans the developers have with their entries. Do they consider them final or...?

I would definitely love to see more refined versions of RACESII and Color Eater 3D.

Logged

"Things like Basic and Free Basic provide much-needed therapy and a return to sanity and a correct appreciation of people. The arrogant folk really hate a word like 'Basic' - fine, and good riddance." ~ pragmatist

Nice to know that. I'm also looking forward to see Iceroyds! finalized.

Logged

"Things like Basic and Free Basic provide much-needed therapy and a return to sanity and a correct appreciation of people. The arrogant folk really hate a word like 'Basic' - fine, and good riddance." ~ pragmatist